The debut record from Knife Party reinstates how we’ve felt about EDM for a while now – it’s not dead, it’s just that not many people are trying anything new anymore. Luckily Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen are here to change all that. Much of the scene has been stuck on the shit but successful progressive-house templates of David Guetta and Calvin Harris lately. There’s been a bit of a rejuvenation of the underground house scene and a couple of artists trying to save drum and bass, but when it comes to full on, hard-hitting electronic chaos, we’ve been left at a bit of a loss. Abandon Ship is a breath of fresh air in that sense, which is funny, because it’s packed so heavily with unrelenting madness that it’s unlikely fresh air will get anywhere near it when its blasted on the loud speakers. There are a couple of songs tailored slightly more for the mainstream – single releases ‘Boss Mode’ and ‘Resistance’ unsurprisingly fit into this category – but even these are laden with the original beats and synth work that set Pendulum so far apart from anyone else in their field back in their prime. The KP creativity shines through best on ‘EDM Trend Machine’ though, an ingenious tune that toys with various styles from the electronic world – taking classic rhythms from deep house, house, trance and more – to form something completely original and funky as hell. To take so many sub-genres, integrate them all into one track and still come out with something so addictive is no mean feat. And it's a very apt symbol for how the rest of the album is run as well. ‘404’ plays on computer errors - of which there have been plenty in the charts of late - and soft melodies around a central, pulsating beat that’ll cause mayhem on the live stage.‘Begin Again’ is one for the old Pendulum fans meanwhile, providing a more traditional, vocal build-up piece reminiscent of 90s electronic rhythms.

It’s a giant fuck you to the EDM artists who either completely lost interest in the scene or never understood it to start with...

The album then suddenly rockets into heavy dubstep however when ‘Give It Up’ turns on. This track literally manages to pack a bit of dub, jungle and dubstep into a small amount of time, and weirdly enough, it’s a likeable number.It’s at this point that you release that the Knife Party duo have taken it upon themselves to show the world that EDM, in all its sub-genres and with all its history, is well and truly alive. Even alternative early-naughties inspired pieces – ‘D.I.M.H’ and the hilariously named ‘Micropenis’ – get a solid run out, while ‘Superstar’ has shades of Robyn S back in ’93, ‘Red Dawn’ mixes Fatboy Slim with Swire’s crave for heavy basslines and ‘Kaleidoscope’ finishes it off with a wonderful piece of composition.This album is a wild ride. Swire and McGrillen take you on a tour of electronic history, showing you how vast it ranges, how wide it has spanned, and at the same time showing that there is still so much more that could come from the scene.This album is heavy as hell, and in the best way possible, it’s going to give a lot of people headaches.It’s a giant fuck you to the likes of Martin Garrix, Steve Aoki and Paris Hilton though, the people who either completely lost their interest in the scene or never understood it to start with. And for that exact reason, anyone who is even remotely interested in EDM simply must give it a listen.

In 2009, Aberdeen trio, The Xcerts emerged onto the scene with debut album with 'In The Cold Wind We Smile'. The album was full of soaring yet offbeat alternative rock ballads with weird structures and frequent contrasts of loud and soft. They followed it up with 'Scatterbrain' which was even weirder. While the songs were bigger, grungier, angrier and overall more (I'm sorry) emo.

As idiosyncratic as they were, the albums are both great. They are not instant, though. Both take a lot of getting used to.

The Xcerts start 'There Is Only You' a lot like their past two albums with a short ambient intro track. After this though, the album just explodes. The next three tracks show an unseen side of The Xcerts. While it is energetic like 'Scatterbrain''s titular track, the tracks are here are incredibly poppy, upbeat and incredibly catchy. They're songs to sing along and jump around to.

'There Is Only You' has MacLeod singing a slightly higher register than we are used to along with Coheed and Cambria style harmonies. The album is very rich produced by Dave Eringa and Paul Steel, including pianos, strings, synths, ahs and oohs and huge fuzzy guitars.

There are slight nods to past stuff, for example, ballad Kevin Costner and the title track which, like most track on 'Cold Wind' gets better with every play.

With 'There Is Only You', The Xcert have managed to create a fantastic pop album while not decending into cringeworthy cheese (like another 2014 Scottish rock album). Along with their clever yet personal lyrics, the character of the band is still very resonant due in part to Murray MacLeod's angsty vocals sung with a bratty Aberdonian accent. It's one of the albums of the year.

Unlike 'In The Cold Wind We Smile' and 'Scatterbrain', 'There Is Only You' is an album that can be recommended to near enough anyone. It is a fantastic introduction to the band for any new listeners to the band.

The real feat is that The Xcerts have now released three albums. All of them great and all of them completely different. They've also managed to this while retaining their identity. The difference between releases simply show the growth of the band.

While Weezer are my favourite band, I don't count myself a proper Weezer fan. A proper Weezer fan goes on forums saying the band haven't done anything decent since 1996's 'Pinkerton'. What I am is a Weezer apologist. While songs such as 'I'm Your Daddy' and 'The Girl Got Hot' have made it very hard for me to defend the American quartet's recent releases, every album has at least a handful of great pop songs.

Although Rivers has said that 'Everything Will Be Alright In The End' would be an album their “fans” will enjoy and they'd stop pandering to the masses, he does so in the fucking lyrics of lead single, 'Back To The Shack'! It only comes across as cheesy. While the much maligned 'Pork and Beans' was as self-referential, 'Back To The Shack' does not have the melodies to back it up.

'Ain't Got Nobody' starts with a chugging distorted guitar not dissimilar to 'Hurley''s 'Trainwrecks'. There is a difference to this and 'Trainwrecks' and it's Ric Ocasek's (producer of Weezer's blue and green albums) rougher production. It is anthemic and exciting opener to the album.

'Eulogy For a Rock Band', a tribute to 'one of Weezer's forefathers is also one of the better tracks of the album. While the verses' lyrics don't seem to rhyme whatsoever, it can be overlooked with such a rich chorus, a great contrast to the minimalist verses.

There's a lot to be nostalgic about with 'EWBAITE'. The production, solos and falsetto sections really take you back to listening to 'Blue' or 'Maladroit' for the first time. Unlike past albums, this is definitely the same Weezer we know and love. The problem is that it's still a disappointing record.

While there's great moments here and there, it's plagued with missteps like 'Eulogy''s verses. 'Lonely Girl', for example, starts with, presumably, an incredibly catchy chorus. After a cool minor pre-chorus (or is it?), you're ready for it to come back in and for you to sing “My Lonely Girl” at the top of your lungs. However, it only comes back at the very end of the song.

The verses in 'The British Are Coming' have a really pretty melody sung in unison with the lead guitar but the song's title is such a weird lyric that it detracts from the rest of the song. This doesn't ruin the song but there are songs where that is the case. 'I've Had It Up To Here' (or 'Back To The Shack 2' as it could be named) has really funky falsetto verses (with noticeable input from co-writer Justin Hawkins) but is squandered by a shitty chorus. The same goes for 'Cleopatra' which has awkward irregular timing but still managed to be boring. 'Foolish Father' starts off really cool and dark but has the happiest, poppiest chorus on the album. It's not bad and the track becomes its own thing with a cool outro (the album's title being sung by a children's choir) but the verses are just so out of place with the rest of the track.

The album does, however have one Weezer's best songs ever. 'Go Away', a duet with Best Coast's Bethany Cosentino, is so catchy and more importantly so Weezery. It has 'In The Garage' style underneath 'Don't You Want Me, Baby' style lyrics.

The thing with Weezer's lyrics, is there's no subtlety to them. While effective in Pinkerton in portaying multiple fuck ups with women, the lyrics in EWBAITE either seem too tongue-in-cheek (Back To The Shack, Ain't Got Nobody), overearnest (Eulogy For a Rock Band) or dishonest. Rivers is a married guy with a kid. Nobody is buying that he 'Ain't Got Nobody' or that he's been told to 'Go Away' by a girlfriend after screwing around.

While Ric Ocasek's production of 'Everything Will Be Alright In The End' is a welcome return to Weezer's sound, the songs are simply not there. I hope Weezer continue to work with Ocasek but write better songs like those on 'Hurley'.

“Why the fuck is there a U2 album on my iTunes? said many on the 9th of September when U2 put new album 'Songs of Innocence', not only for free but, automatically on iTunes users computer and phones.

I, for one was excited, having spent the past year stifling laughs in public listening to Scott Aukerman and Adam Scott's 'U Talkin' U2 To Me?' podcast on my iPod. Amongst the podcast's completely irrelevant tangents and weird bits, it does, in fact, have some interesting nuggets of information about the band and admittedly had me replaying my U2 Greatest Hits CD. I'd also heard that the album would be produced by Dangermouse, whose latest album with Broken Bells is one of the best released this year.

The album starts off very well with the band singing a high 'ohs' over a drum rim rhythm followed by huge dirty power chords from The Edge. It works as a great start to an album. Unfortunately 'The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)' slightly loses this momentum with an awkward transition between the verses and chorus. The track's lyrics, however, are very good. The song is about a Ramones concert that the Irish quartet sneaked into as kids and how the band wouldn't be around were it not for that experience. The lyrics don't name check Joey Ramone in the song and it feels slightly hacky that they have him in the video and in the title of the song. While the album doesn't really have an overall sound like 'Achtung Baby' or 'All That You Can't Leave Behind', the album does display each producer at their best. For example 'Every Breaking Wave' and 'California (There is No End to Love)' have huge choruses backed by lush production typical to Tedder songs like 'Halo' and 'Counting Stars' and Epworth produced tracks like 'Rolling in the Deep' and 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)', whereas brooding electro ballad 'Sleep Like A Baby Tonight' perfectly displays Dangermouse's production at its best with sleek synth tracks and a haunting falsetto verse.

While musically disparate, the album is held together lyrically by the theme of youth, present throughout the tracks. Bono has said that 'Songs of Innocence' is their most personal album which is exemplified with 'Song for Someone', a very sweet love about meeting his wife at 12, and 'Iris (Hold Me Close)' a song about his Mum dying at a young age.

While lyrically quite stunning, 'Iris (Hold Me Close) comes across as another filler U2 track complete with The Edge's overused delay effect. Other unremarkable tracks are 'Cedarwood Road' and 'This Is Where You Reach Me'. The worst track on the album is Volcano, a faux sexy jam with cringeworthy spoken word sections and a really boring and annoying chorus.

Luckily, it is followed by, best track on the album, 'Raised by Wolves', an incredibly atmospheric track telling the story of a car bombing in Dublin that was witnessed by one of Bono's friends. The track performs the cool trick of building to something, dying down and then building up again. By the time the first chorus plays, so much tension has been built so when it finally does play, it's fucking great. A very prominent doubler effect is put on Bono as he wails the track's title over tribal-esque drums from Larry Mullen Jnr.

The album closes with 'The Troubles' a eery duet with Swedish indie starlet, Lykke Li The quiet ballad has Bono looking back and saying 'You're not my troubles, any more'. It works very well as a closer as it puts a lid on traumatic events discussed within the album.

U2 have said they'd follow 'Songs of Innocence' with 'Songs of Experience'. If they can encapsulate their later years with the honesty and fantastic production utilized in portraying their youth, this can only be good news. They may need to find a less hate-inspiring way of releasing it and less embarrassing album artwork.

Nearly every Scottish rock, pop or indie fan between the ages of 18 and 25 has some kind of affinity for Twin Atlantic. For a while it seemed like the group were supporting over half the big bands that played in Scotland. Through 'Vivarium' and, their first feature length LP, Free, we've seen the loveable Glaswegians become one of the biggest rock bands in Britain. Their first EP 'A Guidance From Colour' was chock-full of idiosyncrasies. Like a lot of bands gaining popularity, Twin Atlantic have phased these out to become increasingly poppy. While Free was a near perfect blend of the two, they may have gone too far with their new album, 'Great Divide'. Something that has been pointed out about about Twin Atlantic is how they're almost a throwback to 80s rock giants like Bon Jovi and Whitesnake (lead single, 'Heart and Soul's chorus is strikingly similar to Def Leppard's 'Pour Some Sugar On Me'). For the most part, this is not a problem. As cheesy as those bands were, they wrote fantastic hooks. 'Heart and Soul', 'Hold On' and 'Be A Kid' are no different. The problem is when the fist in the air mentality of the music seeps into the lyrics. While 'Hold On' and 'Be A Kid' are very lyrically earnest, 'Actions That Echo' and, lacklustre opening track, 'The Ones That I Love (Intro)' come across as cringeworthy. In the songs, McTrusy informs the listener that the youth of today have lost their voice and that “You need to live in the moment instead of hoping your future is waiting for you” which could easily be a line in a song from a CITV cartoon. It is unfortunate because 'Actions That Echo's' energetic drums, great vocal melodies and acapella section would easily make it one of the album's better tracks. Another weak moment is surprisingly the album's very popular second single 'Brothers and Sisters'. While the verses and chorus are catchy enough, the shift between the two is simply too jarring and therefore probably mismatched. Other weak points are U2 knock off 'Rest in Pieces' and Disney ballad 'Oceans'. All criticis﻿m aside, t﻿﻿he albu﻿﻿m is loaded with terrific pop songs. 'Fall Into The Party' is Twin Atlantic's excellent and catchy take on modern 'This is how baller I am' hip hop where McTrusty charmingly simply reminisces about a night where he was on top form. 'I Am An Animal' is an energetic rocker starts with thunderous drums and only gains momentum. The song describes a messy night the band shared in Las Vegas. The lyric “Lose my mind in a house of cards to piña coladas and cheap Frank Sinatras” is an absolute winner. Twin Atlantic are great at taking aspects at rock music from the past and combining them to make great songs. 'Cell Mate', for example, is a masterclass i﻿n rock music. It simply has it all: grungey riffs, soaring guitar melodies, a knock-out chorus, rollicking drums and a huge guitar solo. Simply put, Twin Atlantic write great pop songs. There are a lot of missteps on the album and they probably should have kept some of the rougher edges that were on their past album but 'Great Divide' still sees Twin Atlantic add a lot of great songs to their already impressive repertoire.

Sam Smith returns with his debut album ‘In The Lonely Hour’, as the British artist continues his quest to take over the current chart scene. After winning the BRITs Critics Choice Award and topping the BBC Sound Poll, the first full record from Smith was always bound to land under the heavy weight of expectation despite the singer’s relative inexperience. The artist doesn't disappoint in the beginning anyway, opening with massive hit ‘Money On My Mind’. The enticing, fast-paced back beat lays the perfect foundation for the artist’s highly-rated vocals, combining simple but effective electronic and instrumental producing with Smith’s signature vocal range to produce a tune which just doesn't get old fast. ‘Good Thing’ moves slowly and intricately, offering up an emotional ballad-style number from the artist that wouldn't look out of place on Broadway with its mix of emotive lyrics and a backing made up of soft guitar and piano but featuring strong strings on occasion too. The soulful vibes continue on latest single ‘Stay With Me’, a single so slow-burning, vocal orientated and piano driven that it attracted many comparisons to Adele. These comparisons, however, are lazy. Where Adele blasts her vocals in an in-your-face manner, Smith is more subtle, driving his songs with calm but assertive vocals that reach a diverse range of keys. This is a template that continues through tuneful old school love song ‘Leave Your Lover’ and the emotive ‘I’m Not The Only One’. ‘I’ve Told You Now’ follows on from this too – there’s a lot of slow moving songs featuring sweet vocals hitting high pitch notes and floating over calm, inoffensive backings. After a while, it leaves you wanting for a little bit more, for that extra something to make each track stand out from the next. But that extra something doesn't particularly arrive. ‘Like I Can’ picks up the pace a little with a thumping bassline driving the song to begin with, but it all gets pretty poppy and mundane again when the chorus kicks in, with the Sam Smith signature high pitched notes and hints of a choir entering in behind the vocals. The album closes out rather unimpressively, repeating what it had offered up from the middle onwards. All impressive vocally, these are tracks that if taken out as a single may stand up well, but when listened to as a continuous record become cyclical and somewhat dull. By the time ‘Not In That Way’ and ‘Lay Me Down’ finished off the album, there was more a feeling of relief remaining than of the excitement brought forward by the first few tracks on the record.Verdict: ‘Money on My Mind’ is a thrilling combination of cracking vocals and a fun soundtrack, but the bulk of the other tracks on Sam Smith’s debut album are repetitive, and the lack of energy in anything but the singing becomes monotonous. You can sing Sam, we get it. Now make it entertaining.Stuart Kenny

The sixth studio album from Coldplay is made up of nine tracks, each of which has the word Gwyneth in the title and each of which makes you want to grab an oversized tub of Ben & Jerry’s, hide under a duvet and cry. I’m yanking your chain of course, and yet while the breakup of Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow may not be as blatantly emblazoned across the tracklist of their latest album as this article previously suggested – you have to admit, it would have given the record a unique flavour – ‘Ghost Stories’ does indeed have all the signs of an undeniable break up album. The record is slow and features tracks packed with sluggish backings that bring a solemn tone to the overall piece. Normally we see knockout instrumental work carry the questionable writing skills of Chris Martin, but the ‘conscious uncoupling’ of the artist from Paltrow seems to have added a sincerity to his scribblings that wasn’t there before. The result is that on this album, the heavyweight instrumental work takes second place to the artist’s uptake in song-writing form. ‘I think of you/I haven’t slept’ admits opening song ‘Always In My Head’, as if the title wasn’t enough of a giveaway already. ‘All I know is that I’m lost whenever you go’, is found in the chorus of ‘Ink’ meanwhile, and ‘True Love’ features a line that begs us: ‘Tell me that you love me/if you don’t then lie’. These are just a few select examples from an album packed with reflective, sombre lyrics. Subdued electronic backings, calm, melodic piano and light guitar riffs that don’t overstep their mark provide the soundtrack for these vocals, with ‘A Sky Full of Stars’ proving the only exception – the song launches triumphant electronic and piano work early on that grows to be welcomed by an electric guitar blast more typical of Coldplay’s work. While the subject matter of the album may be a bit downbeat though, the end result is some of the most critically commendable stuff the band has come out with. With the songs now holding a bit more meaning, the accompanying instrumental work is tasked with framing and escorting the vocals rather than guiding the song, and these backings ensure the work is made into easy listening as appose to turning into material only suited to the broken hearted. ‘Magic’ floats up and down nicely in tempo without ever taking off above the restrained nature of the song, ‘Always In My Head’ provides soaring but suppressed guitar work that elevates the vocals further, and a catchy, rhythmic beat circles in ‘Ink’ before rising through synthetic work and quickly filtering back down to greet the next verse. ‘Oceans’, meanwhile, sticks to a bare bones approach. Melancholy acoustic guitar work and a repeated synthetic bang providing all the requirements needed to let Martin whine out on top successfully, and while several songs (‘True Love’, ‘Midnight’) do seem to get caught up in a repetitive strain of thinking, the bulk of the tracklist impresses. Finishing number ‘O’, for example, sees the record out on a philosophical note accompanied by piano which feels significantly more meaningful than much of the band’s past work.Verdict: A brave move from Chris Martin and Coldplay, who divert from the pop template of their charting success to tackle a more sombre subject matter. The result is commendable work which carries weight in meaning and impresses in sections when avoiding repetition. Stuart Kenny

While fans at folk, jazz and some indie concerts just want to hear live music played well, pop-punk gigs are definitely more of a two way street. Fans are there primarily to have a good time. The band can play their songs note perfect but if the rest of the crowd aren’t up for it, it can be sort of shit. Decade were second on the Slam Dunk Scotland bill at the Liquid Room. They played anthemic, grungey pop-punk with spot on harmonies with the highlight their new single, British Weather. Typical to such a support slot, the audience were happy to simply listen to their songs. The next band were Neck Deep, which saw the audience become a lot livelier. The Welsh quintet had a great command over the audience getting them to sing, jump, point and mosh to their 10 song set. The success of their set may be due recent popularity; the energy of their music or the animation of lead singer who was singing to the audience as though the girl he was smiting was standing in the front row. The band were so popular that a large portion of the audience started chanting for an encore. This encore request was unsuccessful, however, as Neck Deep had to make way for Hit The Lights. They definitely could have though as Hit The Lights hit the stage half an hour after Neck Deep’s set had ended. The band informed the crowd that British Airways had lost their instruments and guitarist, Omar Zehery was unable to travel the UK. They had to borrow instruments and lead singer, Nick Thompson, had to also fill in for guitar, which he did efficiently. Due to the problems, Hit The Lights only played four of their biggest and best hits to the Edinburgh crowd. Although the band were popular when the songs they played were released (all of which were at least six years old), the crowd did not seem as well versed with Hit The Lights as they were with Neck Deep due to the youthful nature of their genre. It'll be interesting to see whether Neck Deep are still as popular five years from now. We Are The In Crowd played a great set involving tracks from their new album, Weird Kids, Best Intentions and from their debut EP, Guaranteed To Disagree. Most of the tracks had been released as singles making their set almost a greatest hits collection. They started their set with ‘Long Live The Kids’. This worked as an effective opener with the steady intro acting as an introduction to the set. Once the song kicked off, the crowd became incredibly energetic. This energy remained as they played, gutsy single, ‘The Best Thing That Ever Happened’ and throughout the rest of the set. Unusually, during, ‘Kiss Me Again’, a section of the audience started a moshpit perhaps winning the award for ‘Softest Song People Have Ever Moshed To’. It was also nice to see We Are The In Crowd feeding off of the crowd’s enthusiasm. The entire band were incredibly charismatic throughout the gig. Their energetic set featured jumps, spinning guitars also saw the group interact with the audience, pointing out the “Here we fucking go!” chants they always receive in Scotland and claiming that they brought it to America. Rather, than leaving the stage for their encore, they joked that the audience should just turn away then look back, which about half the crowd did. This may have been due to time constraints but was still refreshingly honest. Before the gig, I had pegged We Are The In Crowd as a second rate Paramore. However, this evening proved that they're a very fun, charismatic pop band with a large number of great songs. Had I been with friends, chances are that I would have been involved in the various moshpits myself.

Monarchy – Living Without You (MK Letting Go Remix) 4/5 The modern master of the remix Marc Kinchen brings us back to the early 1990s with his latest work – a disco remix of Monarchy’s funky number. Dark tones of robotic keyboard bounce up and down in a flowing melody that continues to circle throughout the four minute plus song but does not bore. Whereas often MK lets his backing beat take full charge of the tune, mixing in just a single word or line from the song which he is remixing, on this occasion he lets the full vocals of Ra Black sound out from around the minute mark in his edit. With the lyrics still accompanying and complimenting the rhythm rather than driving it along though, this tune is all about that electronic backing. And it’s truly tantalising producing from the Detroit electronic artist.The Pierces – Kings 3/5 Sisters Allison and Catherine Pierce return with their powerful new record Kings, the second single to be taken from their upcoming album Creation to be released in September. A basic backbeat made up from guitar and keyboard work supplies the foundations for a fast flowing vocal melody from the Alabama-born siblings that carries the number. The verses are smart and maintain interest by rising and falling nicely in tone and power through the powerful vocals on offer. The chorus then offers a rising harmony which is barely original, and the repetition of this bracket becomes increasingly agitating as the song draws on. Good vocal work and songwriting without a distinctive edge.Heart to Heart – Mentirosa 4/5 Heart to Heart have diverted from their previous punk-rock roots to take on a harsher, heavier tone in their music ahead of the release of their new album Dulce – and it suits them well. A plucked guitar twang opens up the number in intelligent manner, and this progresses nicely to introduce a heavier instrumental lay down and rough, fitting vocals before an anthemic if slightly predictable chorus. The vocals really come into their own during the second verse as they begin to sound out over the strong instrumental backing. Breaks between chorus and verse are dealt with well so as to not invite on monotony too, with a cooled bridge leading on to subdued clean vocals late in the third verse to separate it from the previous offerings. The lyrics could do with a little more depth and meaning but this is a neatly put together track that showcases some good work from the band.Handguns – Sleep Deprived 2/5 American four-piece Handguns don’t hang around waiting to get their latest effort off to a quick start. Neat instrumental work heavy on riffs familiar to pop-punk play out over vocals shouting about the past woes of a lost relationship. Not much differentiating from genre conventions then, but the chorus is catchy and the chantable lyrics will work well on the live stage. The tune is slowed down to acoustic pace for a few seconds late on before bursting back into that repeated chorus. It’s a number that will likely appease current fans and is capable of showcasing instrumental talent, but without a distinguishing selling point, it does leave you hoping that more unique efforts await when the band drop their upcoming album on 7 July.

★ RECORD OF THE WEEK ★

Kanye West – God Level (prod. By Hudson Mohawke) 4/5 Glasgow’s own Hudson Mohawke has been living the high life lately after leaving the land of Sub Club and Rubadub Records for the planes of Hawaii to turn producer for Kanye West. Mohawke is now a full-time member of Kanye’s G.O.O.D music label, and he’s once again the producer behind the latest track to come forward from West. The track, entitled God Level, seems to be (an albeit pretty impressive) leftover, from the rapper’s coveted Yeezus, and debuted in the latest Adidas World Cup advert, featuring Lionel Messi & co. Trap drums cue an exotic feel from the start that let you see why the track seemed appropriate for Adidas’ Rio de Janeiro-bound advertisement, all the while applying the unique obscurity found throughout Yeezus to the backing track. This is a back beat which is continually prominent, be it right in your face and blasting your ear drums or simply smashing away in a slightly more subdued manner, but it sets the scene perfectly for Kanye to drop some traditionally Kanye lyrics. As you can imagine, then, much of Kanye’s input here involves shouting out ‘God Level’ throughout the track around lyrics that play on the opening line (‘Provide a new coffin/You don’t see murder like this this often’) to combine with the backing to form an exhilaratingly, almost tenacious carnivalistic atmosphere. An exciting, heavy listen coming soon to a motivational YouTube video near you.

Glasgow threesome PAWS made a lot of waves in 2012 with their debut album, 'Cokefloat'. The album was longlisted for Scottish Album of the Year and received a great deal of critical praise for its lo-fi pop-punk tracks with rich lyrical themes, like the recent death of frontman, Philip Taylor's mother.PAWS start Youth Culture Forever starts just as sombre sounding like a stoned-off-their-tits Teenage Fanclub singing cheery lines as “Do you know what it's like? To sit there in stone watching your best friends die.”. These emotionally bare lyrics hidden behind the huge guitars and distorted vocals is another feather to PAWS' bow.

The album then speeds up with fun and instantly catchy tracks, 'Tongues', 'Someone New' and the colourfully titled 'Owl Talons Clutching At My Heart'. 'Cokefloat' drew a great deal of comparison to 90s bands like Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr., however, these tracks seem to have more in common with recent bands like The Cribs and The Vaccines. These tracks are incredibly fun and are among the best songs on the album.

The next two tracks have a very low lyric count. While the lyrical minimalism adds to, acoustic ballad, Alone's vulnerability, the elongated “Give up! Give u-u-u-u-up! Give up!” in 'Give Up' only really comes across as lazy songwriting. This unfortunately carries on through the album in Narcissist and Let's All Let Go.Alone ends the upbeat danceable music on the past five tracks. The track features Taylor urging his subject not to commit suicide. So, yeah... there goes my buzz. The first two thirds of the track are sang and played alone by Philip Taylor with the band coming in on the third. A more satisfying release for the tension built up throughout the track may have been to play one chorus once the band had joined in.PAWS return to their dancy catchy punk on the next three tracks. An Honest Romance would be a singalong anthem if only it were possible to decipher the chorus's lyrics. Narcissist and Let's All Go are fun but are perhaps too similar to Give Up.'Great Bear', a short repetitive instrumental track which does very little for this writer, is followed by almost the title track 'YCF'. YCF is a another acoustic track played by Taylor which talk about returning to his home town which he does not look to kindly upon. The track displays wry lyricism with lines like “I know I said this in a song before but fuck it, life goes on.” It isn't clear whether the album's titular line is sarcastic or whether it's describing the feeling of youth more as a curse. It isn't a celebration of youth, anyway.Album closer, 'Warcry' transitions from an very intimate solo performance from Taylor (throat clears and everything) to just fuck off riffage. As Taylor closes the second solo section with “Hear my warcry sui... cide”, waiting for the drop is incredibly exciting. Howevever, the track is 11 minutes long. After two minutes, the vocals have finished. After another three minutes of guitars with a tonne of delay and reverb on them playing over the same bass line, you just want the song to end. The track only comes across as self-indulgence.

Youth Culture Forever sets a balance between punky, insanely catchy pop and dreary solo tracks with grungy anthems opening and closing the album. It is a far more ambitious effort than it's predesson and, therefore, makes more false steps. However, the choruses are better than on 'Cokefloat', the lyrics are frequently brilliant and there a lot of interesting risks taken.